Blog Tag

Wear the Cape was blog-tagged! The rules are this: Go to the 8th folder in which you store your photos Select the 8th photo Post it to your blog and tell the story behind it. After following the above instructions, you are ‘supposed’ to tag 8 other blogger Now, I had to do some finagling…

Quote of the Week #4

Waiting for breakfast to arrive… Ms. M: Is breakie here yet? M.: No, but the Doom Kittens are invading. Ms. M:  (very brief pause–almost indiscernible) Okay then, go ahead and wait in here.

Averted Eyes

M. is crying.  I am pretty sure it is my fault.  Before you get your knickers in a bunch, though, I will tell you that he is upset because I held him responsible for his actions (or lack of action, to be more specific). He is sitting in the center of the room, at his…

Hat-Trick

This week was tough.  TOUGH, I tell you.  This caped teacher doesn’t know how to explain it without taking hours and hours, but suffice it to say that the hat-trick of rampant Eighth-Grade Disease, one very troubled child, and shared issues of the foster care  and education systems, had me beat down to a pulp…

Trading Places

I am tired today.  Foot-dragging, eyes-drooping, body-fighting-every-step-of-the-way tired.  This tired makes me feel like I’d prefer each one of my chicken-heads to be silent and do all of their work.  I know a serious lack of realism when I see it, so I tried.  The end of first period came, the chillins’ were working, and…

Found Poems

Today we started on some poetry.  My theory is that kids like my little muffin-heads should love poetry since it breaks all the rules.  Why hit them with rhyme and meter and stanzas when they can just go hog-wild and make stuff up for once in their lives?  For this reason, I assign Found Poems…

Quote of the Week

D. is working on an independent project that requires him to stretch a piece of vinyl across a square shape.  One of the corners keeps bunching up and misbehaving. R. is following our conversation: D:  This is frustrating!  I can’t get this corner to fit into the square. Ms. M:  Are you feeling like you…

The List

As I sit here watching these little turkey-butts take their state-mandated tests, I am reflecting on the various issues that have brought them to me.  Here I will list phrases used on our placement information sheet and the number of times each is used if more than once, or if privacy allows.  This is out…

Disturbing?

April 25, 2010 This video clip disturbs me. Shall I list the ways or shall I invite my fellow caped crusaders to tell me themselves? And let’s be even-handed. What do you like and dislike about this video and related article (if you can read it without skipping most of it as I very much…

Caped Crusader Down

This story on NPR caught my attention today and made my heart a little wobbly.  I’ve included the link to the story I heard, though there are many articles online.  His words and the words of his staff speak to me.  It sounds like he has left quite a legacy in education. Remembering D.C. Educator…